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I love it. I do not drink a lot but it is my best treat. I took it out for about 3 months when I first Got IC, but put it back in when I read on this site that so many patients were ok with it. I have never noticed any reaction per say from coffee, although my symptoms are crazily unstable so it always hard to tell!
Her is my question: WHy do you think the mainstream boards and common wisdom around IC is so so against coffee and yet Dr B isn't and so many of us can handle it? Do you think people are just assuming they can't have it like I was, so they take it out? I am sure there are some patients here who cannot have coffee but there is a clear difference bettween us and the mainstream as far as attitude towards it, if that makes sense.
Just curious. I was looking at the horrible mainstream IC site (sometimes I do that to gain confidence) and it is just covered with NO COFFEE. Or tomatoes for that matter which I am ok with too!
Hey There, I cannot resist
Hey There, I cannot resist commenting on any strand focused on coffee. I certainly enjoy my coffee, too and I think this is a great question. "Main stream" or terror sites as I call them;) focus on food at basic levels such as acidity. Other sites suggest cutting out foods which are acidic to address calming down the inflammation.....obviously there is so much more to food choices and nutrition but the connection is not made. The other thought I have is that coffee tends to be one of the most heavily sprayed crops so stopping conventional coffee for some may help slow the toxic overload associated with an IC body.
Looking at the "other" sites certainly could give confidence.....I remember looking at them and thinking this disease was perceived as irreversible. I totally get your frustration with getting better and feeling the roller coaster ride of pain. Although I am not on the bladder pain roller coaster as frequently ( let me be clear I still have bladder discomfort sometimes) I am on the muscle burning, heart racing, shortness of breath roller coaster ride......strangely I have come to a place of acceptance with most ;) of the symtoms. That sounds so balanced, doesn't it?
is your bladder pain all day or does it have a pattern to it?
Sending healing energy! Katie
"terror sites" is right!! I
"terror sites" is right!! I rarely look at them but every now and then it just gives me that little boost- like "I will not be like these people" It isactually prettty depressing and I try not to look at them. I kind of wish I had not started with the one site when I first got sick bcause it really scared the hell out of me!
Katie- a place of acceptance is the best place to be!
My symptoms are very variable but my most recent common pattern is SUDDEN flares at night following a decent day. I'll take the decent day but the nighttime stuff is debilitating. it is also coresponding with my 10 year old havign some serious nighttime anxiety and needing me to help him fall asleep- NOT a good combo. I also have plenty of days that aren;t good but I am trying to focus onthe overall level for many days MIGHT be a little lower- COnfidant huh? LOL
SO true about the coffee and how foods are looked at in a vacuum.
I
hi deir.
hi deir.
i've been a dr. m patient for 2 1/2 years and i still have urgency, frequency, and vaginal pain. from day one, dr. m said coffee was fine when i had asked. she said just do it black.
it's definitely, a TOUGH journey. unfortunately, i haven't felt any improvements since last summer and i know it can't be coffee. during my first year, i was doing well. i felt things were improving despite my little cheating here and there. some of the issues were more pain before my cycle and that has dissappeared 3 months into treatment (december 2011) and a year later in december 2012, my vaginal pain on the right side has completely dissappeared. when i had shared this with dr. m around a month or two later, she said don't be surprised if i have pain there again since the body is rebalancing itself. when i told her after 6 months, the pain is still not on my right side, she told me this was a good indicator that my inflammation is getting smaller. as of today, i don't have pain on my right side. yay! but the pain on my left side has been bad especially this week. i know it can't be coffee.
yes, i used to go to other websites for comfort, but instead it scared me. i can feel the hopelessness and helplessness in others. when i found out from dr. m that it was systematic yeast infection which is causing i.c., i was so excited that i had to share this info. people were giving me cold shoulders. dr. m said those forums may discourage and scare people...so i decided to stay away from those sites. i know that for each person different things trigger pain and for me, it's definitely tomato and not coffee. i just have to becareful with coffees bought from fastfood restaurants because the type of water used.
Junie! Good to see you
Junie! Good to see you althought I am sorry you are still struggling too. Hold on to the improvements you made!! You will get there. How is your little girl?
COFFEE - My favorite topic -
COFFEE - My favorite topic - I love the stuff. A couple of years ago I was sure that if I gave it up the anxiety would lesson. I did so at the prompting of my GP. It did NOTHING to help. For that matter, it did nothing to lesson the occasioinal irregular heart beat that I have. The only thing the two month abstinence did was to make me miserable.
In Chinese medicine coffee is
In Chinese medicine coffee is seen as a warming herb. I know dr m Brizman is very careful about when to introduce herbal teas because of their medicinal properties and which ones etc. in some cases herbal teas can work against tx. But by list 3 it seams coffee is ok for most? I guess over the years moderate coffee has not been an issue for many so she allows?
If we don't excel at health, the only other option is disease.
Yes, she has always told me
Yes, she has always told me to not drink Chamomile tea- haven't asked for a while but.- I just think it is so interesting how adamant the mainstream is about coffee!
I come from the other side of
I come from the other side of the field on this one. Coffee has always been a huge IC trigger/flare inducer for me. Even during the 10 years when I was more or less in remission, I'd become symptomatic from coffee and alcohol. Those were really the only things that would bring symptoms back. I would occasionally drink it anyway, but would always suffer for it!
I'm totally jealous of all those who can drink it, but I do think it is a case-by-case basis kind of a thing. I would be curious to know more about what it is about coffee that is OK for some and not others and why the mainstream says it is universally bad. I imagine the acidity issue has something to do with it.
Tea definitely bothers me too, but I've grown to really enjoy a nice cup of hot water. I know that sounds super lame, but it's true!
Sorry Clare! That stinks! But
Sorry Clare! That stinks! But at least it is something you know and can avoid. I hear you about the hot water- I find that very soothing!
I am still getting over the alcohol thing. It is more the ritual than the actual alcohol. My husband and I used to love to go out for a beer or glass of wine. Especially now that Spring is finally here, it is harder to imagine never doing that again. I am about 80% over it but I was walking in downtown Philadelphia the other day and seeing the people sitting out on cafe tables enjoying a glass of somehting gave me a little twing!
My family is full of alcoholics though so I try to focus on the definite benfits of abstinence
Deir,
Deir,
I know exactly how you feel about a glass of wine or beer. My fiance and I live a block from the ocean and would love having a drink and watching the sunset. It's hard but if it helps with the pain it is worth giving it up. It's hard though:)
Just about EVERYONE in my
Just about EVERYONE in my community drinks on a very regular basis, including my husband. This has actually been one of the hardest parts of treatment for me. I do sleep very well without alcohol tho and love to kiss my kids goodnight without alcohol on my breath!!
If we don't excel at health, the only other option is disease.